


let us play among the stars

by senator_princess_general



Series: ~*~gays in space au~*~ [2]
Category: Dalton Academy Series
Genre: A very Pixar inspired scene!, But at least there is some handholding, M/M, Not me only proofreading the first 2/3 of this fic!, Now THIS is Shoom Bouncing!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:46:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24990022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/senator_princess_general/pseuds/senator_princess_general
Summary: what if we danced... on our way to the weird uninhabited mushroom planet my friends and i used to goof off at when we were kids? haha, just kidding... unless?
Relationships: Shane Anderson/Reed Van Kamp
Series: ~*~gays in space au~*~ [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1745071
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6





	let us play among the stars

**Author's Note:**

> dedicated to my sweet wife, Ham, who wouldn't leave me alone until I posted a new chapter. thanks for staying awake for this.

“ _Hey! Reed!”_

Reed bolted up from his slumber in an instant, startled at the sudden noise, and yawned. When did he fall asleep? Was he really that bored?  
  
“ _Reed! Are you busy? Hey, Reed!”_

Reed pulled himself up from his drafting table and drowsily stumbled to the door where the voice pounded from the other side (odd considering Reed thought that the doors were sound proof). He reached with one of his hands and clicked the button on the side of the door to open it and moved his other to rub his tired eyes. The boy on the other side of the door clearly wasn’t expecting it to open as Reed caught him mid-knock. Shane quickly retracted his hand.  
  
“Sorry! I just… You were so quiet!” Shane spoke, a little embarrassed.

Reed yawned again and laughed a little. “It’s okay. Did you need something?”  
  
“Yeah! I mean no—I mean… only if you want to? I-” Shane paused to try to slow himself after he noticed Reed clearly not being awake enough for his effervescent energy. He darted his attention away from Reed for a moment and became immediately transfixed by the workshop that laid beyond him. “Wow, what a space!”   
  
Reed looked behind him at the clutter that littered the floor and countertops. “Yeah… well, you didn’t catch me at the cleanest of times.” He paused for a moment. “But, honestly, when is it ever clean? You can come in if you want. No one really comes down here much unless they are getting new gear or the twins want to bug me.”   
  
Shane grinned like a maniac and stepped into the ethereal space. It was entirely white and slightly pearlescent, with digital scribbles and blueprints in various colors covering every single vertical service as well as some ideas he clearly scribbled out but didn’t trash for some reason. Shane wondered why he was holding onto those. A circular drafting table and keyboard sat in the middle that Reed conceivable used to control the space around him. Parts and fabrics were scattered across counters and floors, but beyond it all, Shane still felt a sense of organization and order in the madness. He felt this room pulsed with a distinct energy that felt different from the rest of the ship.

Shane walked up to a particular board in the room he noticed and held up his new mechanical arm up to it. Same design. His new arm was nothing like his last one. While his old one didn’t skimp on the exposed wires and sturdy (albeit old) metal, his new one was all soft curves, impact-proof panelling, and contained a plethora of tools and gadgets. Reed noticed Shane’s interest in the design.  
  
“I had to work with Drew and Satoru to develop the casing for the energy source,” Reed boasted. “I love working with new materials, and they had to invent a new material to match the molecular properties of the old metal. It was really difficult because, you know… it was so dense and I wanted to use as little of it as possible knowing you would have to move it all the time, but I’m proud of the way it turned out and—” He paused again and visibly reddened in the face; Reed tried desperately to hide it. “Sorry… I guess you can read my notes there. I ramble a lot. I just got excited is all.”

“No, no keep talking if you want! Who am I to complain about rambling when I am the king of it. Besides, I love hearing you talk about this stuff. You seem so passionate about it.” He looked down at Reed who actually illuminated a soft red shade.

“You’re glowing,” Shane observed, voice laced with traces of awe.

“Huh?” Reed looked down at his hands and noticed his veins permeating his skin with sharp red lines that diffused to a pink all over. It was as if his blood was liquid neon. “Fuck— I mean!” He looked away from Shane’s direction and pretended to shrug it off. “It’s nothing… that’s normal it just… happens sometimes.” He looked at Shane who looked speechless. “It’s just part of my species. Our blood is bioluminescent and turns colors randomly.”

Shane chuckled. “ _Randomly?_ ”

“Yes,” Reed tried to defend (especially as he kept glowing). “Anyway, the actual science can go above my head sometimes when it comes to making devices, but I know design. And, I’ve gotten more proud of my work now that I know it’s actually helping people.”  
  
“You didn’t design equipment before?” Shane sighed, resigning himself to the original topic but making a mental note to notice _when_ Reed glows.   
  
“No. I designed clothes. And, who do those really help?”

“Well, I do like these suits for the ship!” Shane gestured to the full-body blue and silver suit that both he and Reed wore. “I’ve never been comfier. Feels like nothing! Really! It’s really incredible.”  
  
Reed smiled more. “Thank you. It’s simpler, but I needed that.”   
  
“Can I see a photo of something you designed before.”   
  
“You can see those anywhere. Plus I don’t think I want to give you blackmail material of old pictures of me.”   
  
“I didn’t ask to see _you_ in them… but now that you mention it—”   
  
“What did you need, Shane?” Reed cut him off, red in the face.   
  
“What? OH! Yeah, right!” His grin became a lot more wicked all of a sudden. “Do you wanna do something fun?”   
  
Reed gulped. 

* * *

“I can’t _believe_ I let you convince me to do this!” Reed half laughed, fumbling to put on a space suit.   
  
“Come on, you know you want to! You told me yourself that you were bored,” Shane replied, securing the faceners of his own suit. 

“Yeah, you’re right,” Reed rolled his eyes and said. “I wouldn’t have said yes if I wasn’t.”  
  
“You can admit it, Reed. It was my devilish charm that got the best of you!”   
  
Reed laughed. “You act like you didn’t almost forget your proposition upon coming into my workshop.”   
  
“I was distracted!”   
  
Reed rolled his eyes and hooked a jetpack to his suit. He glanced out the tall window in front of him that outlooked the rest of the universe outside with some worry in his eyes. “Is this where I admit I’ve never flown before?”   
  
“Nah, I figured. It’s easy!”   
  
“Shane, have you seen me _walk_ ? How do you expect me to fly correctly?”   
  
“I promise that if you just keep your thumb on the propel button you’ll be fine! Besides, I know this planet like the back of my thumb. I can help guide you if you need. Blaine and our friends and I used to come here all the time as kids to goof off. I haven’t been here in years but the planet is basically uninhabitable since it only grows the resilia fungus. No one could have touched this.”   
  
“Okay…” muttered, anxiety flooding him as he secured his helmet. “Just… can you jump before me? I trust you, but I would rather go second. Just to see it done.”   
  
“Yeah, sure! No problem! Whatever makes you most comfortable!” He cast his exhilarated gaze down to Reed who Shane could have sworn was a wee-bit more blue toned underneath that helmet (noted). “Hey, I promise this is safe. I won’t let you float off. You got this!” 

Reed felt himself grow a bit warmer as he heard Shane’s words. He can’t believe in the past few months, he abandoned his home world and his status for this rag-tag crew and now he’s about to go shroom bouncing with a boy he met within a week ago. A boy who Reed really thought should be resting and practicing using the technology he got newly installed a few days ago, but instead has pounced around the ship as if he didn’t almost _die_. But, he digressed. Shane didn’t have to glow to exhibit his emotions physically; it was encoded into his mannerisms, gate, and mossy eyes. Shane was like one of those freaky Earth sea-things; if he stopped moving, Reed was convinced he would die. He couldn’t tell why he felt he could trust this boy so easily, especially because of that. It’s less like they sat on the same wavelength as each other and more like their wavelengths synced and ebbed together. 

“Ready?” Shane asked with his eyebrow arched, his finger hovering over the airlock button.  
  
“Sure,” Reed exhaled. Straightening himself out. “On the count of three.”  
  
“ONETWOTHREE!” Shane exclaimed, slamming the button before Reed could even take another breath. That was _fast._ The airlock only stayed open for a few seconds to expel him from the exit port, but Reed could have sworn he heard a “woo!” before he got sucked out.

“ _It’s beautiful out here, Reed!”_ Reed heard over his ear piece. “ _Do you want me to count you down?”_

Reed exhaled again, positioning his finger gently on the button. “Yeah… just a bit slower, please.”  
  
“ _One,”_ Shane started, making sure he gave Reed enough space to breathe between each. “ _Two… Three!”_ _  
_ _  
_ And all of a sudden, Reed found himself floating. The drop was so fast he barely felt a thing. It really wasn’t that bad. 

“ _Nice job!”_ Reed heard come over his speaker again. “ _Look to your left! I can see you!”_ _  
_ _  
_ Reed circled himself around until his eyes locked onto Shane, dangling upside down, clearly trying to get a laugh out of Reed. Reed tried to stifle his giggle. “You’re not _that_ funny, Shane!”   
  
“You _laughed!_ I heard it!.” Shane compressed his thumb onto the propeller button and materialized right next to Reed. “I checked. It’s nice and clear right now: no space rocks or satellites to be seen! A perfect beginner track!” 

Reed bit his lip. “I hate to ask, but do you think I can hold onto you while we fly to Boledis?” Reed asked, anxiously looking around at the void around him. The universe was so limitless around him, and while the drop felt seamless, he suddenly found himself growing increasingly distressed about going off course and separating from Shane and the Wonderland. Reed’s worlds were so small compared to this swarth of inky black that Shane has allegedly hopped across the past five years. “I’m just… I’ve never been out here without a ship, and I feel very… powerless. I think I gave you a ‘yes’ that was a bit too impulsive.”  
  
“Yeah, Reed, of course!” Shane outstretched his hand to him, which Reed took gingerly. “I don’t want to force you to do something you don’t want to do. But, how about this? We’ll do a tandem run instead of you just latching onto me, okay? We both fly. I got you. You won’t go anywhere.”

Reed squeezed Shane’s hand, who gave him a light squeeze back. He was safe.   
  
“Fly when you’re ready.” Shane said, his eyes fixed on their path in front of them. “I trust you, too.”

Reed compressed his thumb onto the button and all of a sudden, he felt his body jolt once, and then drift. It felt less like he moved through the blanket of space and more like it moved around him, allowing him to tear through. Reed watched the stars in their many colors stretch into beams across the sky. It really was beautiful.  
  
“You’re glowing, again!” Shane poked at him, seeing him radiate gold through his helmet.

“I-”  
  
“No, don’t comment or hide it! You look like you were meant to be out here with the other stars. You’re dazzling! Fly with them!”   
  
Reed felt himself go a bit pink again, but he bit it back and found himself wanting to let go of Shane’s hand a little bit. Just a little. Shane was right, Reed was no master, but it’s hard to trip-up when you use machines to blast you through space. Shane felt the slight release.

“Go ahead! I’m right here! You won’t regret it,” he encouraged with a grin. 

And with that Reed released himself, permitting himself to pierce through the void and swim in its boundless ocean. He caught himself chuckling in disbelief. He couldn’t believe he was really doing this, and even more so, he couldn’t believe this was kept from him his entire life. 

Reed kept beaming in his straight line, lost in his own thoughts and in awe of his surroundings (or lack thereof), but all of a sudden realized that Shane wasn’t next to him anymore. _What?_ And, smack, his feelings dissipated as fast as they materialized as panic overwhelmed him and deepened the blue of his veins. 

“Shane? _”_ he asked, panicking into his microphone. “ _Shane?_ Where are you? I don’t-”

“ _Look above you!”_ _  
_ _  
_ Reed did, seeing the boy flying backwards in a relaxed, almost nonchalant posture. What a showoff! 

“Why would you do that? You know I’m scared of getting separated!” Reed demanded, his fear quelling.

“You were doing so good! I didn’t want to ruin your flow! Flying’s amazing when you get into your groove. Speaking of which, have you ever thought about installing some speakers in these? Music plus flying is better and more addictive than any drug in the galaxy let me tell you! And, and this is coming from someone who loves some good ‘ol reefer from the West side of the galaxy.”  
  
“I could. Maybe just for you, though.” Reed found himself warming up again. “I don’t want to make the others jealous.”   
  
“I’m honored!” Shane laughed back. He hoped Reed actually meant that. He missed his old tracks. “Hey! Watch this!”   
  
Shane blasted down to meet Reed at eye-level, upside down and still going backwards. Reed playfully smacked his helmet, which garnered a smile from the taller boy. This was the happiest he has been in a long time (well, save him and Blaine reuniting that was kinda a big deal he guessed). Shane flew up higher so that he wasn’t on the same level as Reed and instead began to circle around the shorter boy in a loose corkscrew pattern, twirling with him through the space that encompassed them. All he wanted in that moment was to dance with him.

Reed marveled at the pattern and felt his body almost short circuit. What was happening to him? What was with this boy, and how come without touching this flight has felt like the most intimate experience he had ever had? He thought about how touch in his culture was so sacred and yet so taboo. Status was shown through space, and the more of it you took up, the higher you appeared. Since he ousted himself from that and began designing more practical designs, he had the overwhelming desire to know what it was like to hold onto someone, and beyond holding onto Shane’s hand earlier, his mind began to wander into imagining what it would be like to touch him without the pads of the gloves between them. 

Shane laughed and dropped back down to Reed’s level. 

“Are you ready to land?” he asked, as they swiftly approached the planet’s atmosphere.

“How?” Reed asked after realizing Shane never taught him. 

“Oh, it’s even easier here! You don’t!” he exclaimed. “The first bounce is always the best one!” Shane suddenly accelerated towards the planet as a breakneck speed into the flesh of one of the ginormous pink mushroom tops, and in the blink of an eye, he was right back next to Reed, jet pack _off._ “Try to catch me!” He said before free-falling back down to another cap.

 _Oh!_ Reed thought, _So_ **_this_ ** _is shroom bouncing!_

* * *

“Hey, so, can I ask you something?” Reed asked, turning his head to the left to face Shane. The two of them laid side-by-side on top of one of the mushroom caps, watching the suns set and the Wonderland drift after a few Earth-hours of bouncing off of the caps and chasing each other. Reed was proud that he only fell a few times

“Yeah, what’s up?” Shane asked, turning his head towards Reed, too. 

“Why did you tell me I looked dazzling out there? Why did you tell me I was stunning when we first met?”  
  
“Just look at you! How could I not?”   
  
“No one has ever told me that.”   
  
“Well, it’s a good thing you met me then, because I can’t control myself speaking the truth!”

Reed bit his lip and looked back up at the suns, watching them slowly fade into the purple of the horizon. This planet was neat, a small gem in the middle of nowhere, but a mere 1-Earth hour away from Blaine and Shane’s home planet. 

“Why don’t you and Blaine want to stop at your home planet?” Reed asked to follow up and as a change of subject.  
  
Shane shrugged. “No one we care about is there anymore. And, I’m technically a criminal. And also, it’s _soooooooooo BORING!_ So _bleh_ compared to everywhere else I went in the past few years. That isn’t to say it was _worse_ per say its just that at least in the places I slept in slums I had something to do.” He grinned. “‘I don’t know where I’m going, but I promise it won’t be boring.’ Some Earth guy said that forever ago. I like to live by it.”   
  
“Are you ever gonna slow down? Do you see an eventual destination?”   
  
“I see a destination but no means of slowing down when I’m there. I mean, why should I? The universe is constantly moving faster. I’ll feel left out if I don’t keep up! Plus I have this cool thing now!” He gave a little punch into the air with his metal arm.

“Huh,” Reed mumbled, getting a little sleepy. He felt the same way, just going a few hundreds of miles per hour slower than Shane. He wondered if that’s why him and Shane felt so synced. He glanced back up at the suns that were nearly gone, but suddenly he saw something permeate the indigo sky: a craft maybe? Whatever it was it looked untouched. “What is that?” Reed asked, pointing up at it.

Shane sat up and squinted into the distance. “It looks like… an old trader’s craft. Our home planet was a major trading hub, so freelancers would orbit around planets and collect artifacts and goods they could hock or barter. I haven’t seen one of those in years!” He paused and kept staring at it. It definitely appeared abandoned, especially if it was pulled into Boledis’ orbit. Shane’s curiosity piqued. 

“Well,” Shane started and stretched. “You got me ranting for too long. It’s getting dark here. We should head back.”  
  
“So soon?” Reed asked even though they had been out for more than four Earth-hours. He was exhausted but part of him was perfectly content just passing out for the night right there with Shane for some reason. He really trusted this boy _that_ much?

“Trust me, you don’t want to be here when it’s dark. Ask Blaine to tell you about the time he got toe-parasites. They come out to graze on the mushrooms at night. You do _not_ want those!”

Reed yawned, “Well, alright then.” He stood up and shook out some of his limbs. 

“You are really amazing, Reed.”

That startled him. What was that about?  
  
“Why do you say that?”   
  
Shane shrugged. “I mean, everything you told me you did in the last month? That takes guts. And, I think you flying on your own was pretty great considering how nervous you were. I’m glad we came out here. Admittedly, I was trying to find an excuse to hang out with you since I first saw you.”   
  
Reed flashed red. “I’m glad, too. I’m glad you’re part of the crew, now.”   
  
Shane was trying to act so much cooler and collected than what his pounding heart and erroring brain were telling him. He wanted to kiss Reed so badly in that moment, but one, these helmets were in the way, and two he didn’t want to freak Reed out anymore than he already had been that day. He had enough excitement that day. He’ll just try to be smooth and patient for once in his life and try next time.

“Well, let’s get going then,” Reed offered. 

“Yeah,” Shane affirmed. He looked back at the craft that orbited above them and wondered what was in there. He’ll have to come back before they leave this galaxy or else he’ll hate himself if he doesn’t. There’s probably some pretty cool stuff in there. 

“Can we do this again?” Reed asked.  
  
“Of course! I’d love to!” Shane replied. _THERE’S GOING TO BE A NEXT TIME!_ His mind screamed.

**Author's Note:**

> Shane's quote is a David Bowie one stream Space Oddity on Spotify <3 <3 <3


End file.
